As the new semester begins，millions of college students across the country are trying hard to remember how best to write a paper-or，more likely，how best to delay that paper．
Procrastination is the thief of time and a lot of students suffer from it．They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space，eating snacks，surfing the Internet，watching videos and looking at their pretty peers sitting around them，who，most likely，are doing nothing either．
Paralyzed by their habit to procrastinate，they write micro blogs about their fears，asking their online friends if they sometimes have the same issue．But this does nothing to solve their problems．
According to a recent report by the BBC，95 percent of us procrastinate at some point and 20 percent of the world’s population are procrastinators，complicating their lives with their continual delaying of tasks．
Procrastinators like to find excuses to justify their behavior，but BBC columnist Rowan Pelling says they are all wrong．Many procrastinators tell themselves they are perfectionists who work best under pressure．Pelling says this is nonsense，as work done at the last minute is more likely to have mistakes than work done on time．
She says the behavior of procrastinators often makes them feel flustered and ashamed，inconveniences others，and annoys loved ones．
Fortunately，social seientists have made tireless efforts to understand this behavioral shortcoming and offer strategies to control it．Piers Steel，a Canadian social scientist and author of The Procrastination Equation，believes humankind is“designed”to procrastinate．Nevertheless，he suggests a couple of good ways to get through the task at hand．
The first one is obvious：Break the task down into small pieces and work your way through them methodically．
The second is clever：Give a trusted friend a sum of money and tell them that if you don’t complete the task you have undertaken by a specific time，they can keep it or donate it to a cause you hate.
What does the underlined word“Procrastination” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．A bad habit of putting work or tasks off． |
| B．A thief who steals time and money in college. |
| C．A college student who learns nothing． |
| D．A study way of doing nothing in the library. |
While every dog owner knows their dogs can read their moods perfectly, scientists have always been a piffle doubtful．Now thanks to some researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria; we finally have some convincing evidence．
For their study, biologist Corson Miller and his team exposés eleven selected dogs to digital images of women that were either angry or happy．Half the dogs were rewired for touching the screen when shove a happy face, while the other half gilt their treat for selecting those that appeared angry．
Interestingly, the dogs were not provided with the entire face．Some dogs were show Ti only upper halves while the others observed lower halves．That's because the scientists believe humans show their eruptions on their equities face．
After some training ill．e how to recognize small differences like the wrinkles between the eyes or the changes in their shape that accompany the happy or angry expressions, the dogs were mostly able to identify the correct expression not only on a familiar face but on a strange face, the researchers concluded the dogs were smart-enough to read human emotions．
They also found those being trained to read angry expressions took a longer time to learn．They guess it may be because dogs find angry faces disgusting, causing them to withdraw quickly．However, once the smart dogs realized they were getting rewired, the trepidation seem end to disappear．In fact, the dogs had such a good time playing the computer "game" That scientists had a hard time keeping them away from the touch screens after the study was completed．
The researchers also noticed only dogs with a male owner had a harder time understanding the expressions correctly．Since the touches careen models were all females, this confirmed what has been observed in previous studies-dogs are more efficient at reading facial expressions of people that are the serene gender as their owner．How did the scientists conduct the experiment?
| A．By leaving dogs to women who are either happy or angry． |
| B．By mixing the selected dogs together． |
| C．By rewarding only half of the dogs touching the screen． |
| D．By showing digital pictures of women's happy or angry faces． |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The dogs were not all provided with the entire face, |
| B．According to their size, the dogs were given either upper or lower halves． |
| C．The dogs could read even small changes that accountancy facial expressions after some training． |
| D．The dogs couldn't read strangers facial emotions． |
The underlined word "trepidation" in Paragraph 5 probably means .
| A．horror | B．curiosity |
| C．excitement | D．doubt |
How might the results change if the dogs with female owners are shown pictures of male faces?
| A．They could only tell commotions on partial faces rather than on entire face's． |
| B．They found it hard to tell the moods on the faces of a different gender． |
| C．They found it easy to tell the emotions on the entire -face． |
| D．They would be scared away at the sight of the pictures． |
Most artists have a favorite material they like to work with．For 28-year-old Kristen Alice, it happens to be garbage．The eco-friendly designer uses her incredible talent to transform garbage like empty drink bottles and candy wrappers into charming dresses that sell for thousands of dollars．
Kristen says the idea came to her after she saw how much vaster she and her three college roommates generated on a daily basis．The Fine Arts student began to dream about transforming the deserted bags and packages into beautiful garments．
Her first dress’ made from plastic bags and rolled magazines was strange, fun and even charming．However, she only made it to test her creativity．
The young designer did not consider starting a commercial venture（企业）until she spent a week working at Couture Fashion Week in New York City．There she observed the excitement generated by new and vintage（复古的）looks and decided to see if her unusual idea would result in as much enthusiasm．She began by creating a line of 12 garbage-inspired dresses．They were a huge success．
Today her company that has offices in Palm Beach, Florida and New York City, produces a wide variety of dresses ranging from cocktail dresses to ball gowns （礼服）．Kristen, of course, doesn't search garbage cans for her material anymore．Instead, she seeks it from companies that have produced more than they need and are planning to throw away the extras．
However, if you think the garbage-inspired dresses come cheap, think again．The price for ready-made creations retails（零售）from $500 to $1,500．Though that may appear expensive, the designer says she has no shortage of customers．In fact she now even has garbage-inspired clothing for men that includes jackets, ties, trousers and even board shorts! While most of the clothes are strong enough to resist multiple wears, whether they can be cleaned is a little unclear:What made Kristen think of using trash as her favorite material?
| A．Her poor living conditions at college． |
| B．The education from her parents not to waste anything useful． |
| C．Her roommates' advice of using garbage to replace ordinary material． |
| D．Her consciousness of environmental protection and trained eyes． |
Kristen decided to start a commercial venture because ．
| A．she just wanted to test her creativity． |
| B．she was inspired by the enthusiasm caused by new and vintage dresses． |
| C．she was driven by the huge profits brought by new fashion． |
| D．she found there were no unique-looking but affordable clothes in New York． |
The last two paragraphs are mainly about _ .
| A．the success of Kristen's career |
| B．the advantages and disadvantages of the garbage-inspired clothing |
| C．what clothing Kristen mainly designed |
| D．where Kristen got garbage for her clothing |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．New Use of Garbage |
| B．A New Trend of Fashion |
| C．A Talented and Ambitious Fashion Designer |
| D．Transforming Trash into Wonderful Garments |
Dear Miss Manners，
Friends of mine lost their home in a house fire．It was terrible．Another friend set up a "go fund me" type page for friends and funnily to donate and help the couple．Many friends, including me, helped with money, meals, lamprey and their dog while 'they were getting back on their feet．
Last week, they sent thank-you notes．My roommate received one addressed to her and I did not The notes were not in modularized; it was a printed one-size-fits-all message．My roommate realized I didn't receive a thank you, so she sent a private message to the couple just letting them know I had been left out．I didn't know she had done this until later．
The next day, I got a text message apologizing and saying that I had been left out because their friend who addressed the notes must have missed me!（Miss Manners, they didn't even address the notes themselves!）It was accompanied by a picture of the thank-you note, which was texted to me with- the message, "Here is a thank you just for you. "
I was a little annoyed．I helped them in their fume of need and didn't get a second thought．I have not responded to her text message．Is it fair of me to consider this friendship over? Should I tell her that I am upset, or should I accept that this rude thank you was better than nothing?For what purpose did Mary write the letter?
| A．To start a public donation for the unlucky couple． |
| B．To teach us how to see the true colors of friendship． |
| C．To tell us to loam a lesson from her story |
| D．To ask for advice on how to deal with her annoyance． |
From the letter we can infer that ．
| A．the couple lost their car in the fire so they had to go everywhere on foot． |
| B．so far Mary hasn't received a thank-you-note addressed to her． |
| C．Mary's roommate sent the couple a message to blame their carelessness． |
| D．the couple left Mary out by accident when they wrote the thank you notes． |
What does Mary think of the couple she helped?
| A．careless | B．considerate |
| C．unbelievable | D．unreliable |
The letter is most likely taken from .
| A．a diary | B．a brochure |
| C．a newspaper | D．a report |
If Confucius were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake，there would be a lot of candles．He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out．
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day，few people in the United States will give him a passing thought．It’s nothing personal．Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes．
But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius．In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China．
In the past two decades，the Chinese study programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities．More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries．These schools teach both Chinese language and culture．The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art，history and philosophy．Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the old Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners philosophy．Students in the United States，at the same time，are racing to learn Chinese．So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States．Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers．
So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well．
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West．
As for the old thinker，he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West，even if his birthday is．The first paragraph is mainly intended to_________．
| A．provide some key facts about Confucius |
| B．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations |
| C．show great respect for the old thinker |
| D．attract the readers’ interest in the subject |
The reason why few Americans remember Confucius on his birthday is probably that______．
| A．they don’t care about Confucius at all． |
| B．they consider their own national heroes more important． |
| C．he has bee a bridge between foreigners and China. |
| D．they don’t pay much attention to the birthdays of famous people． |
We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students________．
| A．were not interested in Chinese studies before |
| B．take an active part in Chinese petitions |
| C．have a great interest in studying Chinese |
| D．hope to make money in China |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Old Thinker with a Big Future |
| B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language |
| C．Chinese Culture for Westerners |
| D．Forgotten Wisdom in America DDCA |
If you haven’t already, you too should switch to the latest eco-friendly, energy-efficient, energy-saving LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting. As the world becomes more focused on green issues, everyone should do their part in practicing energy efficiency, recycling, cutting down their CO2 emissions and much, much more. One of the most successful campaigns that started in Australia is the now world-famous“Earth Hour”. 2.2 million of Sydney’s residents turned off their lights for an hour in a mass attempt to save energy. The following year, the same idea was adopted by a whole host of different cities.
This is a great example of a campaign to promote eco-friendly options and energy efficiency. But while it clearly raises awareness, it is not a long-term solution to energy saving across the developed world. A long-term solution can be found in the form of switching to LED lighting rather than the traditional halogen lights(卤光灯) found in a typical home.
Put simply, LED lighting is the future of lighting. LED lamps use up only a fraction of the energy pared to that of regular lamps. They also produce a quality flicker-free light, and will last longer than a regular light with 50,000 hours being realistic. Not only are they longer lasting and more energy-efficient with no sacrifice in light quality, but they may quickly become a possible substitute (替代物) for regular lamps that have been previously installed by homes and businesses.
An ordinary 50 watt low-voltage halogen light on for 4 hours a day would cost $ 25 per year to run. With a life span of around 3,000 hours it will typically stop working at the two-year mark. compared with the regular one, an LED light of 50 watts operating for the same period will cost roughly $ 6 per year to run and last 50,000 hours. That means it won’t have to be replaced for 24 years! It really is a no brainer to switch to energy-saving LED lighting. Plus, you will be doing your bit for the environment by being more eco-friendly.“Earth Hour”is held in the world every year in order to .
| A．ask people to generate more energy for daily use |
| B．call on people to use less energy as much as possible |
| C．remind people to remember the days without lights |
| D．advise people to have a good rest after working hard |
How should we save energy according to the author?
| A．Raise public awareness. |
| B．Turn off the lights. |
| C．Hold“Earth Hour”. |
| D．Use LED lights. |
It can be inferred from the third paragraph that LED lamps .
| A．are more expensive that regular ones |
| B．will take the place of regular lamps pletely |
| C．might be used by more homes in the future |
| D．use up more energy and give out more light |
The underlined phrase in the last paragraph“no brainer”probably means a thing that .
| A．needs no consideration. |
| B．needs deep study |
| C．changes with others |
| D．connects with others |